Four Self-Portraits

1995

American, born Morelia, Mexico,1935; died Seattle, Washington, 2023

Step inside the magical world of Alfredo Arreguín where space and time has collapsed into a hypnotic tapestry of colors and images. It is as if long-ago memories have entwined with the present time, like an epic dream remembered upon awakening. Celebrated for his exuberant, highly patterned compositions that include iconic images of the Virgin Mary, Frida Kahlo, Mexican revolutionaries, Aztec gods, jungle flora and fauna, and the geography of the Pacific Northwest (his adopted home since 1956), the artist asks us find the story within, to unravel a mystery. Do you see the four pairs of eyes hidden among the bounty of color and form?

Oil on canvas

Painting: 49 3/8 x 42 3/8 in. (125.4 x 107.6 cm)

Frame: 55 x 43 in. (139.7 x 109.2 cm)

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Art Acquisition Fund

2022.13

Provenance: The artist; [Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, Washington]; purchased from gallery by Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 2022

Photo: Scott Leen

Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistorySalem, Oregon, Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University, El Esplendor de la Selva, 2010.

Yakima, Washington, Yakima Valley Museum, In the Shadow of the Master: Alfredo Arreguín and Doug Johnson, Sept. 16, 2016 - Jan. 7, 2017.

Bainbridge Island, Washington, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Alfredo Arreguín: Life Patterns, Oct. 13, 2018 - Feb. 17, 2019.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, American Art: The Stories We Carry, Oct. 20, 2022 - ongoing.

Published ReferencesFlores, Lauro. Alfredo Arreguín: Patterns of Dreams and Nature (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2007): p. 122, reproduced p. 116.

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